editor When the time to graduate from high school arrives, most students wish to go to the college they have always desired. There might be plenty of reasons for someone to want to go to a university. To pursue a higher degree, be willing to discover more in your loved area, or be a doctor for saving human lives.
Whatever your goal is, the process of preparation for a college entrance exam is tough. When you are surrounded by people who are seemingly studying well, you feel like you are behind them. You feel like you are exceptionally stupid and lazy to be accepted into your dream university. All these thoughts create an enormous amount of stress, and can even result in mental illnesses.
In this article, I am going to present to you how to be ready for the university entrance exam and possibly be enrolled in a college you have always desired:
1. Internalize Exam Format
To begin with, you need to learn and internalize the exam that you are going to deal with for the next couple of months. Learn all the deadlines, important dates, and where you are going to take the exam. Knowing the essentials will reduce your anxiety, as you will be more aware of the challenges ahead. Learning effectively at home for the university entrance exam requires self-discipline, motivation, and access to the right resources. It will also help you plan your exam preparation, as you can optimize your strategy around the subjects and the time limit you have.
Another thing you should be analyzing is the previous years’ tests. These tests can give you a good idea about the exam type and format. For example, if the exam mostly consists of long-format questions, you should buy textbooks with long-format questions. Students can also learn where they stand by analyzing the questions in these exams. For example, if you have an easy time understanding chemistry but are not on good terms with history, you can focus more on history rather than chemistry.
2. Learn How To Be Motivated by Changing Your Attitude Towards The Exam
A lack of motivation is common among many students preparing for the exam. Stress is one of the many reasons why many students cannot find motivation. You might be asking “what if I won’t be able to get a good result?”, “Will I find a good job?”, and “How my parents will react?”. We do not know what will happen in the future, but we can affect the future through our actions. Assignment Help Melbourne provides expert assistance to students preparing for the Melbourne University Entrance Exam. Stress is a good motivator for many of us, but if you are excessively anxious, it might deter you from focusing on your exam.
Not having a clear goal in your mind can also demotivate you in the long run. You might have no idea where you want to go, or you might be too scared if you take the wrong decision. Firstly, you should bear in your mind that most students experience the same feelings when selecting their career path. It is totally normal to feel like that. To keep yourself motivated, you need to set a clear-cut goal that is attainable, and that goal is something that you can sacrifice your time and energy for.
Alternatively, you can ask people who passed the exam before. They might have experienced the stress, lack of orientation, and confusion you might be experiencing now. Learning about the experiences of others might help you to overcome stress and the lack of orientation by showing you how the other person had prepared for the exam.
Sadly, some people might be judgemental of your performance in the mock exams or criticize you for not studying enough. You might remember from the deaf frog story that the best way to overcome hardships is to not listen to these pieces of advice. You shouldn’t let non-constructive feedback hurt your motivation. There is a high likelihood that the reason behind their unfair criticism is not you, but their own experiences.
3. Take care of your health
You might have heard some people saying things like: “This student studies 14 hours a day and that is why he is so successful” and “You should not do anything but study to succeed in your exam”. Parents and teachers oftentimes try to encourage students to study harder by telling stories of these “successful people”. Although their intention is not bad, you should never forget that you are a human being, not a robot. Online classes can provide students with a flexible and convenient way to prepare for university entrance exams. Many students devastate their mental and physical health by setting up very high expectations, and when they fail, they might fall into major depression. I promise, destroying your health never ends up being a good decision.
You should take care of yourself first and then focus on your exam. Never underestimate the importance of your well-being on your overall productivity and your studying performance. Many prep schools take the time you spend on studying into consideration when evaluating your work your studying instead of how much you have learned new.
Physical activities can help you to feel more energetic and make sleeping easier. A person who regularly does sport has better mental health and is more energetic than others. Many parents force their children to stay at home in hopes of them studying more. Prep schools consider these activities as “unnecessary for a last-year high school student”. At least consecrating 1 to 2 hours daily to take a walk can greatly improve your physical and mental health, increasing your overall studying performance.
4. Know when to study what
Humans tend to overdo things that they already know well. Students are not an exception to that fact. You might find yourself constantly working on the subjects you already like or the ones that come easier to you. If you want to improve your standing amongst your competitors in the exam, you might need to consider studying the subjects you dislike more.
It is hard to get motivated to study these boring topics. So, you should study these when you feel energetic, motivated, and engaged in order to get the most out of your effort. I personally like studying between 3 pm and 7 pm, but it might change from individual to individual. You can study the rest of the subjects when you feel less energetic, so you don’t miss some details of the subjects you actually like.
5. Perfect Your Strategy
One of the most overlooked aspects of these standardized tests is the strategies that guide students through their exams. Many students panic while taking the exam since they don’t have any experience solving questions under a time constraint. Since you have a certain amount of questions to solve for a certain amount of time, you can develop some strategies to guide you through your exam. For example, you can start by solving the easy questions and passing the harder and more tricky ones. Then you can return to those tricky questions with your remaining time in relief that you have already done what you could have done.
There are tons of strategies that might be helpful to you. The easiest way to learn which strategy works best for you is by joining mock exams. Prep schools and some institutions might offer free mock tests in your region to prepare students for their exams. Join as much as you can, as these exams try to be the replica of the real exam. You can test your exam strategies and understand whether your strategy works or not.
Conclusion
Preparing for university entrance exams can be challenging. These exams require students to sacrifice their valuable time and energy and can be very stressful. If you take care of yourself, study smart, and find yourself a working strategy, there is no reason why you shouldn’t be enrolled in your dream college.
Author’s Bio:
Atakan Eligüzel is a college student and private tutor passionate about helping other students to achieve their goals.
